Ninja
Ninja, also known as The Messenger, is the main character of The Messenger. He is tasked by the Western Hero to carry the scroll across his cursed world. Ninja's hometown is a village of ninjas, known as Ninja Village. Profile Appearance Ninja wears a green-blue ninja outfit and has a green-blue-handled sword in a green-blue sheath on his back. In the future, he dons a conical straw hat with a red stripe that circumferences the brim, and he wears a red cape around his waist. Personality Ninja yearns for adventure, and he does not enjoy learning history lessons, which he finds boring. But during his actual adventure, he is inquisitive and asks many questions to the new people he meets and is curious about the history behind the different places he visits. For each new area Ninja visits, he can usually ask The Shopkeeper about the history of the area, for a random story, and for information about the upcoming boss fight. Ninja's curiosity compels him to ask The Shopkeeper about many different topics, such as the magic behind Time Shards, but The Shopkeeper is often reluctant to explain these topics thoroughly or at all. Ninja is clueless about many things, such as the proper way to hold the scroll aloft at the top of Glacial Peak, wrapping his mind around the idea of how The Shop can exist in two different places in the Tower of Time at the same time, and the meaning of the metaphor "lion's den." And for the first half of his adventure, Ninja has no idea that the scroll is actually a map. But, Ninja does catch on to certain patterns, such as recognizing the layout of rooms that precede the boss room, and he gains newfound wisdom when he temporarily takes on the role of a shopkeep. A few times, Ninja makes cheeky comments. He describes The Shopkeeper's Autumn Hills story as the long version of "when life gives you lemons." He also pokes fun at The Prophet's job, calling him "The Interpret." Ninja likes to help people out when given the opportunity. He does various heroic deeds, such as rescuing Phobekins, defeating evil demons, and breaking brainwashed denizens free from demonic spells. He even volunteers to go to an alternate timeline that is in danger in order to protect his original timeline. Main Story Ninja hops out of Ninja Village's treehouse, gazing out towards the western seas. He is disappointed that the Western Hero has still not arrived, and he complains how boring it is to learn about prophecies and that he would rather leave the village and explore the world. A gong rings out, and the Ninja Elder summons his students to gather for another history lesson. Ninja reluctantly decides to attend the history lesson for a change. Ninja encounters Rock Lesieur on his way to the dojo, who informs Ninja how to use the Cloudstep technique. Ninja joins up with some of the other students near the dojo, and the Elder chastises Ninja for being a poor student. Ninja argues with the Elder over the importance of learning history lessons, when suddenly, the skies turn red, and fire rains from the skies. The Elder cowers in fear, and fireballs knock out all of the students except for Ninja, who dodges just in time. Ninja proceeds forward, encountering the Demon King and his army. The Demon King proclaims that he will burn the village down and bring the humans to their knees, but Ninja stands up to the Demon King. The Demon King finds Ninja as no threat and declares that Ninja will die, but the Western Hero arrives from the west, riding on a phoenix. The Western Hero saves the day, shooting a barrage of magic arrows at the Demon King and his army, pushing the Demon King back and killing two Ranged Kappa. The Demon King summons Barma'thazël to his side and commands Barma'thazël to keep a close eye on Ninja. Barma'thazël agrees and teleports away. The Demon King threatens Ninja once again, saying that his minions in Autumn Hills will make short work of Ninja. The Demon King teleports away as well. The Western Hero gives Ninja a scroll and tasks Ninja with carrying the scroll to the top of Glacial Peak. Ninja asks the Western Hero several questions, but the Western Hero does not answer them, saying that Ninja will discover the answers along the journey. He tells Ninja to make haste and to use the shroud of night as protection through Autumn Hills. He bids Ninja a "godspeed" before teleporting away in a flash of light. Ninja leaves the village and travels onward to Autumn Hills. The fires in Ninja Village fade away, the sun sets, and the moon rises, signaling the arrival of night. Trivia * Ninja is not ambidextrous. Rather, he is right-handed if he is moving to the right and left-handed if he's moving to the left. ** The intro cutscene and the Wingsuit inventory icon depict 8-bit Ninja's sword handle to be above his right shoulder, which would make Ninja right-handed. ** 8-bit Ninja pulls his sword out from the top of the sheath, while 16-bit Ninja pulls his sword out from the bottom of the sheath. This is why the sheath and scroll flip positions on his back between eras. Ninja's hand is always positioned at the ready to draw his sword. * In Version 1.0.4, during New Game + in the beginning of Ninja Village, Ninja is seen with a scroll on his back during Rope Dart animations, even though he shouldn't own the scroll yet. However, this was fixed with the Version 2.0.2 update. * According to the "Sabotage end of year Q&A 2018" video, Ninja does not like cats, and he is allergic to cats. * According to the "Sabobo Direct - March 2019" video, Ninja's favorite food is a bowl of vanilla yogurt with maple syrup. * Thierry Boulanger, the main director and writer of the game, confirmed that Ninja is not The Shopkeeper. * Thierry Boulanger has stated that there is a subtle reference to another video game called Shatterhand, which is on Ninja in a very specific context. To this day, nobody has been able to identify it. Thierry has revealed several hints about the identity of this Shatterhand reference. ** It's a specific pose on Ninja. ** It's not the Swordbot version of the satellite robot that hovers over the main character, Shatterhand. ** Thierry has only played the American version of Shatterhand, but he says he would be very surprised if it wasn't in the Japanese version as well. ** It's not the boss clinging to a vertical wall with one hand and two legs. ** It's not the Shatterhand level selector screen. ** It's on the main character, Shatterhand, directly. ** It's only seen in one level in Shatterhand. Gallery 8-Bit Sprites BasicMessengerPortrait.png|Ninja's 8-bit talk portrait icon without the scroll. BasicMessenger_8.png|Ninja's 8-bit spritesheet without the scroll. NewPlayer_8.png|Ninja's 8-bit spritesheet with the scroll. DeathFX_8.png|Ninja's 8-bit death spritesheet. Player_TowerOfTimeAppear.png|Ninja's 8-bit scroll-holding spritesheet. Player8_GameOver.png|Ninja's 8-bit Game Over spritesheet. CollectReward_8.png|Ninja's 8-bit Power Seal-collecting sprite. playerKoalaPlaceholder.png|Ninja's 8-bit door-entering sprite. PortalEntrance_SmallBodies_8.png|8-bit spritesheet of Ninja shrinking. PP_SurfPlayer8_NoBoat.png|Ninja's surfing spritesheet. PP_SurfPlayer8.png|Spritesheet of Ninja and Ruxxtin surfing together. PP_SurfPlayer_GameOver_8.png|Spritesheet of Ninja receiving a Game Over while surfing with Ruxxtin. QueenOfQuills8_Shroom_Shake.png|Spritesheet of 8-bit Ninja shaking off the effects of the Quillshroom curse. MessengerMapIcon.png|Ninja's map icon. Icon_Wingsuit.png|Wingsuit inventory icon, which depicts a tiny Ninja with the Wingsuit activated. PP_Slideshow_Intro_frame6_01 Edited 1.png|Picnic Panic cutscene, where Barma'thazël gazes at 8-bit Ninja inside of a scrying orb. 16-Bit Sprites TheMessengerPortrait_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit talk portrait icon. player_noScroll_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit spritesheet without the scroll. Ninja Amalgamate.png|An amalgamate of many 16-bit spritesheets of Ninja with the scroll. player_hurt_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit hurt sprite. player_climb_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit climbing spritesheet. player_swim_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit swimming spritesheet. player_swimDash_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit swim dash spritesheet. player_wallKick_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit wall kick sprite. DeathFX_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit death spritesheet. player_scrollexchange_16.png|Sprite of Ninja passing on the scroll. player_scrollexchange_16 and player_idle_16_8.png|Combined two sprites for a full Ninja passing on the scroll. Player16_GameOver.png|Ninja's 16-bit Game Over spritesheet. CollectReward_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit Power Seal-collecting spritesheet. player_IdleBack_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit back spritesheet. player_ManfredRidin_16.png|Ninja's Manfred-riding spritesheet. player_ManfredRidin45_16.png|Ninja's Manfred-riding sprite. player_RocketRidin_16.png|Ninja's rocket-riding spritesheet. player_EnterDoor_16.png|Ninja's 16-bit door-entering sprite. player_musicboxentrance_16.png|16-bit spritesheet of Ninja shrinking. MessengerShopkeeperIcon _16.png|Shopkeeper Ninja's talk portrait icon. MessengerShopkeeper_16.png|Shopkeeper Ninja's spritesheet. EndingCutsceneFrame22-24BG Edited.png|The Music Box cutscene, where The Shopkeeper gazes at 16-bit Ninja inside of a scrying orb. Official Sprites Achievement 2.jpg|"Enter The Ninja" achievement, which depicts Ninja running to the right. Achievement 13.jpg|"Man's Best Fred" achievement, which depicts Ninja riding Manfred. Achievement 15.jpg|"Tumble Hijinx" achievement, which depicts Ninja curled up into a ball, flying through the air. Achievement 26.jpg|"Walking On Air" achievement, which depicts Ninja performing a Cloudstep. Canadian Crusader.png|"The Canadian Crusader" Halloween costume. Botanical Brawler.png|"The Botanical Brawler" Halloween costume. Couldn't find a pun Crossing Guard.png|"The Couldn't find a pun Crossing Guard" Halloween costume. Showering Shinobi.png|"The Showering Shinobi" Halloween costume. Messenger Halloween Sale.png|Ninja traveling through Quillshroom Marsh to celebrate the 2018 Halloween Steam Sale. Happy Thanksgiving.jpg|Ninja in a Pilgrim outfit holding a turkey leg aloft to celebrate Thanksgiving. HolidayShop.png|The Holiday Shop, depicting Ninja in "The Canadian Crusader" outfit. KuningasEST_Bday.png|Ninja presents a cake with candles for speedrunner, KuningasEST's birthday. Cropped Sprites Green Coat Ninja.png|Ninja in a green winter coat with a hockey stick. Flower Ninja.png|Ninja dressed as a large pink flower. Crossing Guard Ninja.png|Ninja in a crossing guard uniform with an orange slow down sign. Showering Ninja.png|Ninja with a showering cap for a hat, a towel wrapped around his waist, and a scrubbing brush at hand. Pilgrim Ninja.png|Ninja wearing a Pilgrim hat and holding a turkey leg. Blue Coat Ninja.png|Ninja in a blue winter coat with a hockey stick. Birthday Cake Ninja.png|Ninja holding a birthday cake to celebrate speedrunner, KuningasEST's birthday. Screenshots Intro_6.png|Intro cutscene depicting Ninja noticing The Bowman's approach. Intro_7.png|Intro cutscene depicting The Bowman instructing Ninja to deliver the scroll to the top of Glacial Peak. Beta Content Beta Intro 6.png|The beta version of the intro cutscene, depicting a very blue Ninja noticing the Western Hero's approach. Player_8.png|Beta version of 8-bit Ninja's spritesheet. Player_8_PlaceholderGraplouAnim.png|Beta version of 8-bit Ninja's rope-darting spritesheet. Player_16.png|Beta version of 16-bit Ninja's spritesheet. Player_16_PlaceholderGraplouAnim.png|Beta version of 16-bit Ninja's rope-darting spritesheet. LifeIcon.png|Life icon. Concept Artwork 2007 Prototype.jpg|Ninja from the 2007 prototype of the game. ArcaneGolemConcept1.png|Concept artwork that depicts a Ninja who is about to face the Arcane Golem. Demon King Fight Concept Artwork.png|Demon King boss fight concept artwork that depicts a tiny stick figure of Ninja riding a rocket. Official Artwork Steam Trading Card 6.png|Ninja's Steam trading card. Steam Trading Card Artwork 6.jpg|Ninja's Steam trading card artwork, which depicts 16-bit Ninja in Glacial Peak. Steam Ninja Large Emoticon.png|Ninja's large Steam emoticon. Steam Ninja Emoticon.png|Ninja's Steam emoticon. Quillshroom's Horrors.jpg|Ninja gazes at Quillshroom Marsh with Quarble nearby, used for the YouTube thumbnail of this video. PAX East 2018.png|Official T-shirt design for PAX East 2018, which depicts Ninja holding the scroll aloft. Fangamer T-Shirt.png|Fangamer T-shirt design, which depicts Ninja in The Shop. Key Art 1.jpg|Key art #1, which depicts Ninja ready to face an onslaught of enemies. Key Art 2.jpg|Key art #2, which depicts Ninja with a straw hat, ready to draw his sword. Key Art 3.png|Key art #3, which depicts Ninja jumping through the air with a hoard of enemies at his heels. PicnicPanic_KeyArt_NoLogo.png|Picnic Panic key art, which depicts Ninja surfing alongside various characters. The Messenger Soundtrack Artwork.jpg|The Messenger soundtrack artwork, which depicts The Shopkeeper gazing at Ninja within a scrying orb. the_messenger_-_past_deliverable.jpg|The front of the official vinyl cover, depicting the past version of Ninja. the_messenger_-_future_deliverable.jpg|The back of the official vinyl cover, depicting the future version of Ninja. Shinobi No Kikan Ninja 1.jpg|Ninja in Shinobi No Kikan, holding the scroll aloft. Shinobi No Kikan Ninja 2.jpg|Ninja in Shinobi No Kikan, sword at the ready. Shinobi No Kikan Ninja 3.jpg|Ninja with a straw hat in Shinobi No Kikan. fr:Ninja pt-br:Ninja ru:Гонец Category:Characters